Koi no Kakera
by sora-to-umi
Summary: Akabane Karma decides to assist his mysterious classmate, Okuda Manami, in clearing a game started by her favorite senpai. While doing so, he starts to wonder if there was anything more to this game as he gradually realizes how odd it is.
1. Chapter 1

Hi guys! I have been following the Karmanami fandom for a while now, and I really enjoyed all the wonderful stories of this lovely pairing that have been written so far by awesome writers. I've always been more a reader than a writer, but since the anime ended, I've been wanting for more Ansatsu and especially more Karmanami because I couldn't just get enough of this amazing manga and its universe and characters.

Before anyone can get confused, this story can be considered semi-AU, which means that it partially has the same settings as in the manga, but the status of some characters will be different (you will see it gradually in the story, I won't spill all of it yet xP). Even though they are in high school in this story, all the students in class-E are still together in the same class at Kunigaoka high school. I'd like to apologize in advance if the characters are too OOC. I'll try my best to keep them in character, but it can be influenced by the plot that I'm planning for the story.

I don't own anything. The characters belong to Matsui-sensei and a big part of the plot is influenced by Nanajima-sensei's works. The image cover belongs to りんたろう on pixiv.

I will dedicate some songs for each chapter which I will put at the endnotes. The song's lyrics and the chapter's content won't always be related to each other, it's just that I feel like listening to these songs while I was writing the chapter haha ;)

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« Damn, just a little bit more » _Click!_ Manami looked at the photo that she just took with her cellphone, featuring a bird's nest with a full family of four birds inside. Frowning at the lone branch that got blown in at the last minute and ruined the photo, she made an exasperated sound.

« Guess I have to take it again… », murmured the braided-girl.

Wasting no time, she quickly adjusted her position on the tree where the bird's nest was in order to get another view of it without the branch getting in the way. Another shutter sound was heard, and the young girl looked at her phone contentedly.

« Finally got it! Just 11 more to go! » The raven-haired girl hummed and proceeded to climb down. Unfortunately, she made a faux pas and slipped of the tree, falling promptly down from it.

« Ouch! That was close. » Manami slowly opened her eyes, processing in the fact that the fall didn't hurt her as much as she expected because of something soft that cushioned her fall. « Can you get off me now? » came a deep and masculine voice, which made the bespectacled girl jump. She finally realized that it was a boy who supported her fall and she was actually sitting on top of him. Feeling blood rushed to her cheeks, she quickly mumbled an apology and sprang out of him as quick as a magnet returning to its pole.

As Manami was composing herself and adjusting her glasses, she finally got a chance to look at his face more closely and realized that it was her classmate. « A-Akabane-kun? What are you doing here? »

« I should be the one asking you that question, Okuda-san. Lunchtime is almost over. Why are you still out here climbing on a tree? » asked Karma, eyes filled with curiosity and a hint of mischievousness looking directly into hers.

Manami paused. Even though he was indeed her classmate, they didn't really talk much with each other for the last three weeks since school started. She was actually quite surprised that he knew her name or even recognized her. Manami has never really been the center of attention. She always blended in quietly with the class because of her reserved nature. Not that she minded it though, the raven-haired girl enjoyed a quiet high school life, studying Chemistry and spending times with her best friends Akari and Yukiko, who were also in the same class. _Akabane Karma_ though, was a different story. He has always been the center of attention, in both good and bad ways. Guys saw him as an infamous delinquent involved in many fights with numerous gangs who one shouldn't mess with, while girls swooned over him for his handsome face and intelligence. Manami wasn't one of those girls though, for she just acknowledged the red hair male as her classmate, nothing more, nothing less, even though some part of her couldn't help but compare Karma to _him._

 _Stop that! Stop seeing him in every guy I meet!_ She berated herself, trying desperately to halt where her thoughts were going. The raven hair girl hated how easily her tears were welling up every single time she thought of him, even if it was just a fleeting thought. _Manami! You aren't that same timid girl who wore her heart on her sleeve like before. You can do this! Compose yourself!_ After some seconds that seemed like forever, Manami managed to get back her neutral expression and looked at her interlocutor in the eyes.

"I was just adjusting the bird's nest on the branches because it was slanted. Thank you for helping me." said the chemist-lover while bowing politely.

While Manami would be able to fool most people by masking her feelings quickly within the span of seconds, Karma was too perceptive to miss how sad and teary her eyes looked for one moment and how they became normal the next. _Okuda Manami_ , one of the very few girls in school who didn't look at him like some gods or idols and the only girl whose name he even bothered to remember, was indeed picking his curiosity. They were practically neighbors in their class seating, his being the last table of the third row and hers being the before last one of the fourth row. Unlike most girls, she was always being quiet and kept her interactions with other to the minimum. The only ones that he saw her really talking to were the two black long-haired girls. He also remembered how she managed to fully capture his attention by being the first person to beat him in Chemistry.

While he didn't really care for other humanities-oriented subjects such as Japanese literature, English or Geography, he always enjoyed Math, Chemistry and Physics and never failed to achieve the highest marks in those subjects, until he met Okuda Manami. He still remembered clearly how surprised he was when his name wasn't at the top of the list for the Chemistry mid-terms exams, while it was featured in the first or second place for all of the other subjects, making him the student with the best overall scores in the whole grade. It could be safe to say that she picked his interest from that point on, and Karma started to pay more attention to her and his eyes always seemed to search for her in the crowd on their own. As someone who never really showed interest in anyone or anything before, let alone interacting with people in manners other than mischief and violence, the red head boy was unsure how to approach her in an appropriate manner, plus the fact that she deliberately avoided too much contact with other people in the class aside from her two female friends. Now that an opportunity finally presented for him to be able to talk to her, no way he would let it pass. He was going to take his time cracking her mask and decoding the mystery which was Okuda Manami by all means.

Finally snapping out of his musing which didn't actually last that long in reality, Karma was quick to grasp her wrist as she was turning away from him about to head back to class.

"I'm good at reading through people's lies, and the reason that you gave me was most certainly one Okuda-san." said the delinquent slowly to punctuate his words.

"W-we're just mere classmates who didn't even talk once to each other before this. Even if I was lying, I don't really need to disclose the real reason because it doesn't concern you." exhaled the bespectacled girl after a moment of silence.

If Manami was taken aback by his question, she did a fairly good job to keep her expression neutral. The same couldn't be said to her stuttering though. It was a habit of her when she was still shy and had difficulty expressing herself, which she managed to break off after meeting _senpai_. She could always blame it on Karma and his insistence that obliged her to talk with him more than she would usually allow herself to fellow classmates.

Karma, on the other hand, just felt his desire to unravel her increasing after her somewhat cold reply, a far cry from what other girls would have done had they been in her shoes. He was going to figure her out, and Akabane Karma always got what he wanted.

"Well, it _does_ if you managed to injure me after having to cushion your fall from that tree to do whatever you were doing."

As if to prove his points, the young man lifted his white shirt revealing some nasty bruises on the abdomen region, plus the fact that was holding his elbow protectively implying that some tendon in that corner must have been twisted after the small trauma. Weird as it may sound, he was thankful that his wounds from the last fight with some random delinquents two days ago didn't have time to heal completely so that he would have a reason to make her talk, but she didn't need to know that piece of information.

While the chemist was able to stay collected after his first question, she couldn't help but starting to get more flustered now. Even if she should have questioned twice about the impossibility such bruises could have formed from such a light collision, Manami could never get rid of her tendency to trust people a little more than she should, as well as her gentle and considerate nature. She didn't have much things to lose any way, now that she thought about it. The reveal of the real reason behind her actions might even make him draw some appropriate distance and let her going on with her life. Biting her lips to keep her emotions under control which she knew would definitely go a bit haywire each time she talked about _him_ , Manami started softly after being assured by Karma that she didn't need to dress his wounds and that he would do it himself later.

"Just promise me that you will leave me alone after I tell you the reason. You see, I like a peculiar senpai who is really interested in photographing unconventional things. He wanted me to help him find some subjects of his photos in the past. If I can't clear all the photos that he sent me, I won't be able to meet him." started Manami when she saw that Karma nodded his head to agree to her condition.

"What kind of photos are they? And who is this senpai? Is he also in this school?" asked Karma after processing what she just said.

"I can show you some examples on my phone. As for the other two questions, those are personal info so I can't answer them." replied the chemist while opening her cellphone to her list of photos.

Seeing how firm she was on not answering about her crush, Karma decided to let it slide for now while ignoring the unpleasant feeling when he realized that she already liked someone. It wasn't like he was interested in her in _that_ way. She was merely an intrigued mystery that will be solved by him. Growling mentally, Karma directed his attention to the photos on Manami's phones. He had to admit, the photos were definitely _original_ , even in a weird way. The subjects in the photos varied a lot, from a cat with a heart-shaped mark on its butts to a giant _daruma_ behind a Shinto shrine. Judging by the look of them, it didn't seem easy to be able to find these in the first place, let alone capture them on photo.

"So where is the next photo?" The red head couldn't help but ask.

"Near a cliff. On top of a mountain." declared Manami nonchalantly without missing a beat while starting to head back to class. However, before she could advance another step, her shoulder was grabbed by Karma's big, calloused hands. His head was also leaned closer toward hers, a little bit too close actually for her comfort.

"I'm definitely not letting you go there alone. Let's come together after the classes end today."

"W-Why are you involving yourself with this? It-it is my own business. Besides, you just promised that you will leave me alone after I answer your questions! " blurted out Manami, not noticing that her voice raised slightly.

Undeterred by her little outburst, Karma explained, in a no-nonsense tone which left no room for argument, that it was because she carelessly fell on him first, so she would have to let him in on this now that he knew about it, plus the fact that he didn't officially promise her anything just by nodding his head. He also added in a somewhat sarcastic tone that he would have trouble sleeping at night if he ignored someone committing suicidal actions, so it would be for his own sake and not hers.

 _I shouldn't have told him where I was going._

"That is something important to you right. While I really question your sanity into doing this game blindly just because the guy you like wants you to, it's dangerous to go there and I'm sure that you will still keep going even if everyone stops you." Karma fully knew that he was pushing her to the edge by ignoring his promise in her eyes, but he just couldn't let her doing such reckless things by herself. Despite her subdue appearance, this girl could be really stubborn when she wanted to.

Manami paused. This guy, why is he so different from the others? Some of her more curious classmates like Shiota-kun or Fuwa-san, and even Akari and Yukiko just merely smiled and shook their heads when she told them where she was going in order to take the photos. Not that she blamed them or anything, she understood perfectly that others might think what she was doing was ridiculous. She didn't bother to care though, because she knew how important it was to her. She expected no one's help, and no one ever interfered with what she was doing until now. So why, instead of pulling away like everyone else, Akabane Karma was actually coming along? They didn't even know each other, and Manami couldn't find a logical reason behind his actions at all. He confused her, and she didn't like it one bit, because he was, unknowingly, dragging out her old insecure and shy self in the past. She was painfully aware of how he could get under her skin so easily, and how those amber orbs kept staring intently into her own as if trying to search for something inside of her that she herself wasn't aware of.

The raven-haired girl decided to not say anything for now and slowly nodded her head, while trying to think of ways to escape him as soon as classes would end.

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Songs: _Kioku (Memories)_ by The Sketchbook and _Jasmine_ by Yui Makino

Please R&R!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing as usual.

Note: As this story is semi-AU, Koro-sensei and Yukimura-sensei are both alive here, and Koro-sensei is in his human form. The assassination never happened in their last year of junior high, and both teachers are normal staffs at the Kunigaoka high school.

Thank you so much for your reviews! The guest reviewers please at least leave your username so I can properly address my answer to your review here :)

Sugar: Thank you! I hope you will like the later chapters too.

I12Bfree: The senpai's name will be reviewed soon. I'm trying to keep up the suspense as much as possible ;)

Guest1: I hope I could read Indonesian, but I needed to use Google translate in the end ;) Thanks for liking the concept! Please keep reading and commenting :)

Guest2: Thanks for leaving a review! Hope you will like the next chapters also.

Sorry for taking so long to update! Hope you enjoy this chapter.

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The afternoon classes went by quite slowly that day, according to Manami, as she could sense the constant stare of her red head classmate on her back. How could he always be first of the class when he never listened to lectures! The chemist absentmindedly thought how unfair it was for people who tried their hardest to get good grades compared to those who didn't work as hard and still got what they want. Akabane-kun seemed to belong to the latter. She was also reminded of the fact that their seats were so close to each other, thus increasing the difficulty of discreetly escaping from him at the end of the day.

Desperate situation called for desperate action. After weighing the pros and cons of each method she could use to escape her predicament, the braided-girl opted for the best one according to her, which was to ask for Akari's help, despite knowing how her black-haired best friend will bombard her with questions about what happened between her and the class delinquent after. Manami flipped through her phone under the table, making sure not to let Koro-sensei and Akabane-kun see what she was doing, and texted her friend.

"Hey Akari-chan." A white text box popped up on the black-haired girl's phone screen.

"Wow Manami-chan! You don't usually text during classes. What happened?" The child actress wasted no time in replying back.

"You're pretty close with Shiota-kun right?" The chemist went straight to the point.

"Uhm, we're just friends that's all. Why?" Akari was glad that Manami couldn't see how blood rushed to her cheeks when she saw who was mentioned by her bespectacled friend.

"Relax. I'm not interested in him at all, you're so obvious Akari-chan ;) I just want you to ask him something for me." The bespectacled girl couldn't help but let out a small smile, knowing full well how her best friend felt for the blue-haired boy.

"Manami-chan, stop teasing me! What do you want me to ask him?"

"I need him to distract Akabane-kun and get him out of the classroom for some minutes when classes end today. I don't want to be caught by him after class because I have some photos to take. I will explain everything in details to you later. Please just make sure that Akabane-kun won't suspect anything."

"Ok, but be prepared for all my questions. I want to know _everything_ that happened! And Akabane-kun of all people! He didn't seem to be interested in any girls until now."

"Got it. Thanks Akari-chan."

"Anything for my best friend! And Manami, be careful of wherever you have to go to take those photos of yours. I know that I've already said so many times, but you have to tell me who this senpai is someday."

"Akari, I..."

"Just know that I'll always be there to listen to anything."

"Thanks Akari. I really appreciate it."

The obsidian-haired girl turned off the screen with a sigh. She remembered how every time Yukiko and she asked Manami about her favorite senpai, the chemist always answered with a shy smile that if they knew who he was they would like him too. However, Akari wasn't fooled at all. She knew Manami long enough to see through her excuse. She also understood that her friend wished to not disclose anything else about her crush, and she respected that, because she knew that Manami always had a good reason to do what she did. All she could do was to be patient and wait for the chemist to open up to her on her own. The child actress just hoped that everything will go well for her best friend in the end and that her feelings towards that senpai were indeed mutual.

She then proceeded to text Nagisa, explaining what Manami told her. The short boy was surprised by the request, but thankfully didn't ask more details about why the class trickster got interested in her friend all of a sudden, because Akari herself wouldn't know the answers. She couldn't wait to get all the juicy details from Manami, maybe they should do a sleepover this coming weekend so that they would have more time to girl talk. As the shortest boy and shortest girl in class finished their conversation, Nagisa turned to his left and flashed a smile at her, making her blush hard and unable to think for some moment. Akari finally shyly smiled back and nodded her head, her face as red as a tomato. Her bowed head made her miss the small blush on the blue-haired boy's face.

Still reeling from the so-called sensation of butterfly in her stomach after seeing his smile, Akari proceeded to text Manami to tell her friend that she got the ok from Nagisa to her request.

The raven-haired girl smiled gingerly when she saw the text message from her friend and replied back to thank her once again. Manami was relieved that Shiota-kun agreed so quickly to what she asked without much question, courtesy of Akari's help. She could only hope now that the blue-haired boy would be able to fool his delinquent friend, temporarily forgetting about the hawk-like eyes on her from the back row.

One of the good things of sitting at the farthest row in the back of the class was that you could observe all the movements of other students sitting in front of you, mused Karma. As his eyes never really left the petite chemist, the young man carefully observed Manami's reaction as she was texting with her phone, as well as his friend Nagisa and that Yukimura girl that Nagisa had a crush on. And when he saw the latter's text message to him about going to get the limited edition one-day-only of Sonic Ninja action figure after class, Karma could already guess what their, or rather her, plan was.

 _Nice try, Okuda Manami-san, but I'm not backing down on this either._

The best course to take for now was to make her believe that her plan worked, so that she wouldn't think of making another one. Not only she was too stubborn for her own good, the petit girl was pretty resourceful as well. She was able to make both her friend and his friend help her in achieving her goal of getting away from him. He had a feeling that he won't ever get bored watching her, as well as anticipating what she would do next and countering those plans.

"Sure, I'll wait in front of the school gate after class." texted back Karma.

Nagisa was relieved that Karma gave the okay and proceeded to text his crush immediately to tell her the good news, while not thinking twice about why Karma would want to meet at the school gate instead of going to his desk directly when classes would end.

As the bells rang, Manami took a peek behind her and saw that Karma's seat was vacant. Drawing a sigh of relief, she quickly put all her stuffs in her bag to get out of the class and go to the mountain. She stealthily half-ran, half-walked through the wooden corridors leading to the back door of their school building, which no one usually used or went near. As the bespectacled girl was a careful person, she made sure to use the back door to crush any chance of Karma spotting her.

As she neared the door, Manami unconsciously increased her pace even more, arms stretching towards the handle. _Just a little bit more and I can finally get away from him!_

Instead of being greeted by the sight of green grass, she collided face first with a broad and slightly toned chest. The first thing she saw when she looked up was his smirk.

"Do you think that you can get rid of me that easily, Okuda-san?"

Even if she was beyond shocked at the sight of the red head male in front of her, Manami managed to compose herself quickly and started desperately rummaging in her bag to find some chemical solutions which could somehow help her escape this situation. She refused to stop resisting until the very end. _Of all days, why did I have to be out of chloroform today?_ Manami hastily took out her last smoke bomb that she could find from her bag and threw it between them as fast as possible and proceeded fleeing away to the nearest trail that she could find. She knew that she would never be able to outrun him with her physical condition so she had to give him a disadvantage.

Karma was taken aback about how this girl never failed to surprise him. He has never heard of a first-year high school student being able to make smoke bombs before. He knew that the chemistry-lover usually stayed behind class to do experiments in the school lab, but he didn't think that she was able to make such complex solutions as these.

 _This girl was too talented for her own good. She was just the perfect partner for me with her chemistry prowess!_

Karma couldn't even imagine how many sophisticated pranks he could come up with her help. As soon as his eyes were able to adjust and see through the smoke, he wasted no time and ran to the trail that Manami took.

Meanwhile, the chemist pushed herself to the limit with her running, while slightly berated herself to be so physically unfit. Seeing that she finally managed to lose him, Manami proceeded to keep running a little bit more for good measures. Not noticing a tree branch sticking out in the middle of the trail, she tripped and found herself falling forward quickly. Bracing herself for the pain which never came, she felt instead a familiar broad chest that her face collided with and strong arms wrapped around her small torso. Lifting her head up, Manami realized that it was none other than Karma who was supporting her once again. Unlike the first time though, the distance between them was almost inexistent, as she could hear his steady heartbeat against her ear. The young girl blushed till the point that her face felt hot as she noticed the intimacy between them. He was warm and she couldn't help but feel safe in his arms, no matter how much she tried to deny it. Manami had never been so close to a guy like that before, maybe once with senpai but he was quick to break their contact. Karma, on the other hand, didn't seem to have the intention of letting go of her anytime soon.

She decided to blame it on the blood rushing to her face and head for distracting her. When Manami finally managed to snap out of her reverie and tried to push him back, his grip, firm but gentle, tightened around her even more instead of complying with her request. Clenching her small fists, the raven-haired girl tried hitting his chest slightly to get his attention. She needed to get out of his arms soon, because anymore of this and her madly thumping heart would burst out any second.

Unaware of Manami's inner turmoil, Karma, on the other hand, was distracted by the faint lavender scent from the small girl in his arms. For reasons unknown to him, it felt just right to have her against him like this. She was even more fragile and petite than he imagined. It would take little effort to break her if he wanted to. However, Karma knew better than anyone that despite her fragile appearance, this girl wasn't weak. If any of her little outbursts earlier today was of indication, she was actually stronger than most girls in their class. Even if her physical strength was a bit below average, she made up for it with her quick thinking and chemistry prowess.

He also realized another thing. Aside from his parents, Karma was always on guard with everyone else that he met. His experience with his previous teacher rendered him unable to trust anyone, especially adults. However, with Manami, Karma couldn't detect any hidden intention from her at all. He unconsciously dropped all of his cautiousness around her, thing that he couldn't do with anyone else in their class, even with his long-time friend Nagisa.

Tiny fists pounding on his chest made him snap back to reality, Karma looked down and saw what Manami was trying to do. He finally loosened his arms when he glimpsed how red her face was. As they separated, both of them unconsciously missed the warmth provided by the other. Leaning down to match their eyes' level, Karma put his hand on her forehead to check her temperature.

"Are you alright, Okuda-san? Your face is quite red." teased the young man.

"I-I'm alright. I just n-need some air af-after running too m-much." Manami panted and was relieved that she finally had some space from him, slightly backing herself away to increase their distance.

"If you didn't run away from me in the first place, this wouldn't have happened."

"Why are you here, Akabane-kun? Didn't you go to the Sonic Ninja event today with Shiota-kun?" Manami put her hand over her mouth as soon as those words left, realizing what she has said.

"How would you know? Nagisa told me that just now." smirked Karma with knowing eyes.

"Uhm…Akari-chan told me that Shiota-kun couldn't go home with her today because of that." the chemist silently congratulated herself for being able to come up with a good excuse quickly.

"Nice try for planning to throw me off, but you still have a long way to go before tricking others, Okuda-san. Nagisa and Yukimura-san already admitted everything. It was easy to predict what you were thinking and made Nagisa spilling out the beans. I _will_ come with you today whether you like it or not." Karma couldn't help but laugh at her reaction at his words. Her mouth dropped like a fish, round cheeks flushed with the same color as his hair and huge amethyst orbs widened with anger and surprise. Karma would never admit it out loud, but she looked absolutely adorable when she was mad. He decided that he preferred to see her many vivid expressions like this instead of that calm and withdrawn façade that she usually put on in front of other people.

Even if she was really surprised and frustrated after realizing that he saw through her little scheme, Manami was quickly distracted by his laugh. She couldn't remember hearing such a hearty and boyish laugh from Akabane-kun before, at least when she saw him in the classroom. He didn't even laugh like that while chatting with Shiota-kun and Sugino-kun. She wondered how funny her face must have looked for him to do so. Also, even if Manami really hoped that her plan would work, some part of her already expected that he would see through it, as he had well established his intelligent and scheming mind from all his pranks to their fellow classmates and even to Koro-sensei. She was still a complete novice compared to him when it came to tricking people, as it was definitely not in her nature to do so.

Sighing, the bespectacled girl finally relented, seeing as she had no more alternatives to evade from him. Turning to the nearest trail, Manami proceeded to walk at her pace.

"I-I still think that you have better things to do then hang out with a boring girl like me, but fine. Suit yourself."

"You're the most interesting person that I've met though. And the cat with the heart-shaped mark is this way." said Karma nonchalantly while pointing to the direction opposite from where the raven-haired girl was heading.

"W-What? H-how do you know that?" stuttered Manami while feeling blood rushing once again to her cheeks. She wasn't sure if she was blushing because of embarrassment of going the wrong way or because of his compliment.

"Don't underestimate my information network." smirked the red head lad triumphantly.

 _It must be his fangirls who gave him the information._ "Alright." nodded the chemist while remembering that there were always flocks of girls even from other classes surrounding him during breaks. He ignored all of them though and never took up any of their invitations.

They proceeded to walk in silence, which Manami hoped would last because she was afraid that the more she talked with him, the more he would see through her. He was cunning with words, which she definitely wasn't. He could also make her say things about herself that she didn't want to reveal. After what happened today, the young girl felt like she had no choice but to go through the remaining game with him tacking along, meaning that they would have to spend more time with each other. If everyone had a role to play in life, he would no doubt be a main character, while she would be a minor one, or even a mob character. She didn't mind that at all though, because it let her do things for the game without being noticed. However, with Akabane-kun now tagging along, he would definitely gather more attention and she didn't want that.

"Say…" started Karma, breaking through her intense musing.

"W-What?" Manami mentally berated herself once again for not being able to stop stuttering in front of him.

"What kind of guy is he?"

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Songs: _If_ by Kis-My-Ft2 and 「 _Transfer_ 」by livetune adding Megumi Nakajima

Before you guys kill me with the cliff hanger, please rest assured that the next chapter has already been started and will take less time than this one to be released (hopefully XD).

Please R&R!


	3. Chapter 3

I have no excuse for my tardiness in uploading this chapter. I hope that a double update will decrease your frustration at me even just a bit. Thank you for all readers who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story, as well as all my silent readers. I hope these two chapters will please you ;)

Beware of heavy OOCs and grammar mistakes, I didn't really have much time to proofread it carefully.

Disclaimer: Last time I checked, the fact that I own nothing hasn't changed.

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"Here is the draft of the exams material for the first term's finals." said an obsidian-haired man while handing a pile of paper to his interlocutor.

"Thank you for your good work, Koro-sensei and Yukimura-sensei. I'll look at these tonight and have them ready for next week."

"Please don't work too hard, Asano-kouchou*. There's still lots of time before the finals. Make sure to take care of your health too." added the short-haired woman.

"Don't worry, Yukimura-sensei. I only need two hours of sleep each day to function normally. Please take time to prepare your students well for the coming exams."

Yukimura Aguri looked at the middle-aged man in front of her, worry apparent in her expression. She was about to say something back when she felt a hand on her shoulder directing her attention to the tall dark-haired man standing next to her. She finally nodded after understanding the silent message he was giving her. "Alright. Please rest assured that we will."

"Then everything is settled. You can return to your class. And Koro-sensei, don't forget to supervise the students of your class who use the sciences lab after school to prevent chemical hazards."

"You don't have to worry about that, Kouchou. Okuda Manami-chan is a really responsible and careful girl. She already knew all the safety instructions for the lab, right Aguri?"

"Yes, as their chemistry teacher, I made sure to instruct them all about that. Manami-chan is an exceptionally bright student and knows how to take care of herself." beamed Aguri with pride while talking about one of her favorite students.

"Very well. You two can go now." concluded the principal, already starting to look at the papers that he just received.

The obsidian-haired man and woman bowed and left the room. They started heading back to the staff room. The man looked at his companion who still wore slight traces of worry on her face.

"You will have permanent wrinkles if you keep furrowing your eyebrows like that." said Koro-sensei with a teasing voice, his fingers touching the space between her eyebrows.

"Mou, Yama-san! I was just afraid that the principal will overwork himself till the point of exhaustion after … what has happened." Aguri finished softly.

"He needs time. All we can do is to watch over him and intervene if he pushes himself too much."

Yukimura mused over what her colleague said, and finally let out a sigh.

"I guess so."

Koro-sensei's lips turned upwards to a small smile. His left hand resting on top of her head ruffled through her dark locks. He could never get tired of doing that ever since meeting her. The former Ministry of Defense's secret agent always remembered the first time they met when he was working undercover in the lab of Yanagisawa Kotarou to gather intelligence. Yukimura Aguri was working there as a research assistant at that time.

She was the first and only woman who made him feel the happiness to have someone really looking at you. Despite his total lack of interest in anyone before that, their one year inside the lab has made him deeply attracted to the woman. After Yama found out enough proof to accuse Yanagisawa of conducting a research that transgressed the fundamental ethical rules of biomedical research, the mad scientist was properly charged and the research was stopped by the government.

The former agent surprised Aguri by reuniting with her as a fellow teacher at Kunigaoka High School, a job he deemed gradually to be really enjoyable with all the interesting students and Aguri by his side.

"Are you going to supervise Manami-chan making poisons tomorrow too?" inquired Koro-sensei.

"Yes. I can't overlook the safety concerns of a student creating toxins on her own. She got hooked into making them now thanks to you." Aguri pouted, remembering the time Yama-san mentioned about making poisons to Manami and suggesting her to fabricate some, getting the young girl hooked into doing so from that time on. Ever since the bespectacled girl asked Aguri the permission to use the sciences lab after school, the chemistry teacher always made a point to watch over her manipulating chemical solutions, or at least to go see her student every time before heading home herself.

Since the start of the year, Okuda Manami has always been one of the current freshman students who caught her attention. Aside from her propelling talent with chemistry and her outstanding achievements in sciences-related subject, Aguri could sense that the young girl intentionally closed up her heart to not let anyone in except for her sister and Kanzaki-chan, but even for these two it was only partially.

She was definitely a sweet girl in nature. However, Aguri felt that Manami forced herself to not be too involved with her other classmates in fear of something and instead chose to chase after a certain goal. She could remember that last time she tried approaching her bespectacled student about that while they were trying to fabricate the three latest types of poison that Aguri wanted to show Manami, which were sodium hydroxide, thallium acetate, and aqua regia.

 _"Why don't you try talking with other classmates aside from your two close friends, Manami-chan? I'm sure that you will get along great with them too." started Aguri while helping Manami rinsing the glassed beakers and cylinders as they were finishing another after-school sciences experiment._

 _There was a small pause. The bespectacled girl stopped what she was doing and looked down at her soap-coated hands._

 _"Thank you for your concern, Yukimura-sensei. But for me, clever wordplay and thinking through a piece's subtle emotions are both unnecessary. I am terrible with words and can never express myself correctly." finally let out Manami with a small voice._

 _"I'm not good with literature either, so I understand you quite well, Manami-chan."_

 _"R-really? Even you, Yukimura-sensei?" asked the petite girl with surprise evident on her face._

 _"Really! You can ask Koro-sensei for confirmation. He made fun of my knowledge in Japanese literature so bad when we first met. He knew about it more than me and he isn't even Japanese!" Aguri couldn't help but let out a small smile reminiscing about that time. Yama-san was always so patient with her despite his frequent teasings about her weaker subjects and her fashion sense. She realized that she has grown fond of him ever since that time, and those feelings just kept growing over time after he started to work as a teacher at this school, courtesy of Asano-kouchou's suggestion._

 _"I can really imagine that." said Manami bluntly._

 _"You're too honest, Manami-chan." pouted Aguri slightly._

 _"Uhm…S-sorry sensei. I can only say what I think because I'm really bad with words." the shy girl bowed her head and looked down at the ground. She then felt soft hands resting on her shoulder, which made her look up. Yukimura-sensei had left her original spot near the door and planted herself just in front of Manami. With the warmest and kindest smile that the bespectacled girl has ever seen, Aguri spoke softly:_

 _"I meant that as a compliment. Honesty is a very important quality to have, and not all people possess it. However, Manami, you should know that humans will wither away if they're always alone. The only remedy would be to seek out other people. You are a very sweet and kind girl. Don't be afraid to open your heart to others, to really get to know them and let know get to know you in return."_

 _"E-even if it means that you will get hurt in the end?" whispered Manami so softly that Aguri would have missed it if she didn't pay enough attention._

 _"...What do you mean by that, Manami?" Aguri wasn't really expecting Manami's reply. Even though it was fleeting, the chemistry teacher did glimpse a sad and longing expression in her student's eyes. The young girl didn't answer though, and opted to bow her head down._

 _She only spoke after another pause, with a quiet and distant voice. "It was nothing, sensei. Please don't think much of it. I'll have to head home now. Please excuse me."_

 _And with that, Manami put back the equipments and quickly exited the lab, leaving Aguri pondering over her thoughts._

"It seems that child carries something even deeper behind her timid and honest self." concluded Aguri after remembering her unsuccessful attempt to make Manami talk more to her classmates.

Koro-sensei couldn't help but agree with his partner at that. Even though he didn't interact with Manami as much as Aguri did, the faraway look of the young girl that he sometimes caught her having during his classes and her manners were enough to convince the veteran investigator about some background story. As he deeply cared for his students as Aguri did, the math teacher also wanted to help the young girl in whatever way possible. He already had a plan coming under way to talk to her and convince her to interact more with her classmates with the coming class trip to Osaka.

"Let's be a bit more patient. I will need your help with my plan involving Manami-chan for the class trip." reassured Yama while ruffling through Aguri's dark locks once again.

* * *

 _Meanwhile, at the mountain behind the school…_

Manami froze on her tracks after fully processing his question, refusing to turn back and look at him.

She finally resumed walking after sometime and whispered softly in a detached voice:

"That is none of your business."

Seeing that she won't say anything more, Karma nonchalantly crossed his arms behind his head and proceeded to follow after her.

Ignoring the same uncomfortable feeling from earlier that was crawling up once again inside him, the red head decided to reply back:

"Ok, ok, I get it. You absolutely won't talk about him. Can I ask something else then?"

"You are going to ask me no matter what I say anyway."

"Glad to see you've caught up with how I am, Manami-chan."

"I don't remember giving you the permission to call me by my first name, Akabane-kun."

"Call me Karma."

"I choose how to call you myself."

"Then I can also call you in whichever way I want, Manami. Anyway, what other things can you make aside from those smoke bombs earlier?" finished Karma with a cheeky grin, not yielding to her stubbornness.

The young girl next to him sighed tiredly, reminding herself again about her inability to understand the young red head. She felt that she was fighting a losing a battle about trying to keep some distance from him. She wondered if he was this talkative with his other friends too, since that wasn't how she first perceived him to be.

His bombarding questions had long surpassed the level of small talk, and she got a feeling that he had every intention to get out every bit of information about her from their current conversation. She got to hand it to him though, the fellow was cunning when he decided to ask about chemistry, as if he knew that she won't be able to resist talking about her passion. Furthermore, it was better to direct his questions towards less personal aspects about herself.

However, as she was going to give him an answer, black entered her visual field and she directed her gaze towards the wisteria tree to her right. Lo and behold, the infamous black cat with a white heart-shaped spot was lazily stretching at the corner of the said wisteria tree. Karma seemed to notice it too, as he quickened his pace while being mindful to not make any noise.

While she was doing the same, Manami couldn't help but squeal, mentally of course, to finally manage to spot the heart-shaped-spotted cat for the first time. From the beginning, this specific photo was so hard to get since the cat was rarely seen on the campus, and her chance of taking it was now or never! Slowly and quietly approaching the cat, Manami carefully reached into her skirt pocket to take out her phone. While doing so however, she diverted her eyes from the cat for a moment and accidently stepped on a pile of autumn leaves, creating a light but clear rustle sound. It seemed to alert the cat, which proceeded to run away at full speed right at that instant.

"W-wait!" cried out Manami while already chasing after it, with Karma closely behind.

They managed to chase it until a wired barricade wall came into view. The small creature quickly slid under the little space at the base of the wired wall and hurried over to the other side. Manami desperately looked on to the feline creature while searching for any opening that she could pass through, but the only thing that she glimpsed was a big metal board with the words "no trespassing" in bold capital letters.

 _What should I do…? There's no guarantee that I'll find it again tomorrow. I want to chase after it. Even if I climb over, there's a barbed wire._

 _Plus there's no trespassing. And if there's an entrance, it surely will require a key._

While mentally berating herself for her stupid mistake, Manami was so absorbed in racking her brain for any other ways to get through the wired wall that she completely missed the look that Karma was giving her. She was only reminded of his presence when his deep voice rang in her ears:

"Hand me your phone. I'll take a picture for you."

The handsome young lad, who was just next to her moments ago, was now standing in front of her with the wired wall separating them. His hand was stretching toward her, demanding the electronic gadget currently in her possession. Shock was an understatement for what Manami was feeling at that moment.

"H-h-how…W-w-why are you on that side!? W-where did you enter from?" blurted out the raven-haired girl.

"Huh? There's a gap over there." coolly answered Karma while pointing towards a hole in the wall partly camouflaged by some green bushes to her right.

"I'll go too!" quickly said Manami while hurrying to the hole, and proceeded to crouch down.

"Just stay there. I said I'll take it." insisted the scarlet-haired boy.

"If I don't do it myself, there's no meaning." concluded Manami in a firm voice, eyes looking determined.

At those words, Karma's amber orbs widened.

 _From her acuteness, I sensed sincerity. From her recklessness, I sensed devotion._

"What kind of guy let the girl he likes doing all these dangerous things? Even if he doesn't return her feelings, he should make it clear to her and not giving her false hope with this strange and reckless game." Karma slowly realized that he was getting angry at a guy that he didn't even know. Anger, frustration, admiration, curiosity. He couldn't remember the last time he felt such varied emotions inside of him all at the same time. He couldn't decide if Manami was too naïve or too devoted. He found it strange how one person would unconditionally try so hard for another like what she was doing.

Karma continued to brood while observing Manami carefully crouching down and tried to get through the hole. It seemed like it was broken down for someone to get through, with all the tips being teared apart unevenly making them spiking out in all directions. She could get through the hole but it was easy to prick herself with those spiky tips, which made her slowly proceeding with precautions.

"How strange. Akabane-kun's body is bigger than mine and yet he got through this spiky hole without a scratch." mused Manami, noticing some small tears in her uniform because of the tips.

She couldn't care less about them, however, because the black cat was at that moment stationing barely two metres from her. Quickly taking out her phone and mindful to not make another stupid mistake this time around, Manami pressed the shutter and couldn't suppress a contented smile at her final result.

"10 more to go." whispered the petite girl with sakura-color slightly tinting her round cheeks, still looking at the photo in her phone.

* * *

Songs: _Bokura no Machi de (In Our Town)_ by KAT-TUN, _ninelie_ by Aimer with chelly from EGOIST

*kouchou: a Japanese suffix to address the Principal of a school.

Since Koro-sensei doesn't have a real name in the manga, I took the liberty to give him a Japanese-like first name (because I think it will be weird if Aguri calls him Koro-sensei all the time) which reflects his God of Death title: Yama is an appellation for the Death Deity in Asian Culture.


	4. Chapter 4

Beware of heavy OOCs and grammar mistakes, I didn't really have much time to proofread it carefully.

Disclaimer: Last time I checked, the fact that I own nothing hasn't changed.

* * *

 _How ironic_. He was standing right in front of her, and he couldn't even make her lips tilt upward even a little bit, while this _senpai_ managed to make her express such a heartfelt smile just by involving her in this strange game. Ever since he could remember, he never really struggled in anything and always got what he wanted without trying too much. However, the only thought that dominated his mind at that moment was how useless he was for failing to do such a simple task of helping the girl in front of him, a task that he himself especially set out to do.

"No. You're not useless." The soft and clear voice of Manami made Karma realize that he just said his thoughts out loud. Before he could say anything back, Manami continued:

"You're persistent yes, but definitely not useless. Thanks to you finding that hole, I was able to take this photo. So, thank you." sincerely said Manami while lifting her eyes up to meet his to convey her gratefulness and then quickly bowing back down, staring at her feet shyly.

 _If I didn't get inside, then I couldn't have found the cat. If I wasn't able to find it, it would have been game over. At first I absolutely didn't want to be together, but now I'm glad that he's here._

It was then and there, that an unexplainable longing had entered into his system. Karma simply needed to know more about the female in front of him; he wanted to know all that had helped to create the girl she had now become, he needed to be informed of her fears, her dreams, and her passion. He didn't care about that fact that she would probably never look at him that way because she already liked someone else. He just simply needed to see that smile on her face more often. He would do anything to be able to keep her company, even if it meant helping her clearing the game faster and to see her senpai.

"Do you know what a sixth-magnitude star is?" opted to say Karma instead.

Manami wondered if this guy wanted to pop quiz her a random question each time he asked her something. However, she still went along with it by slowly answering, searching for the right drawer of information in her brain acquired after devouring many sciences books:

"M-my knowledge in astronomy is not as much as in chemistry, but is that the biggest magnitude of stars that can be seen by humans' naked eyes?"

"Exactly. The stars that we can see are classified from magnitude 1 through 6. The brightest stars that we see in the sky are magnitude 1. A magnitude 6 star is so faint we can barely see it."

While she was wondering where he was going with this, Manami's science geek self couldn't help but be interested in this bit of scientific information that she didn't know. Despite not reading a lot of books about astronomy specifically, she has always liked to gaze at the moon and stars at night. She was also slightly surprised that a fellow classmate of the same age at her might also be interested in sciences just like she was, as most freshman high school students were more into sports and makeup than thick scientific encyclopaedias.

"However, sixth-magnitude stars only look tiny because they're really far, far away. In fact, they might be many times bigger than first-magnitude stars." She nodded politely for him to continue, as she didn't know what to reply back at this point.

"You, Manami, are just like a sixth-magnitude star. Unlike most students in our school, you always help out the teachers, printing and collecting papers, and watering the plants from the small garden in the woods next to our campus. I know because I see you do it every day."

The bespectacled girl slowly felt her cheeks warming up at his words. She was not used to being praised like that. In fact, it was probably the first time that someone complemented her in such a direct and straight-forward manner. Aside from Akari-chan and Yukiko-chan, she thought that no one else ever bothered to look at her.

"T-t-thank you." struggled the bespectacled girl to let her words out, being too stunned about what was being said to her.

"Looking at you doing all those great things, I just thought that maybe we could be friends. That's also why I wanted to tag along with you in this game. I don't know why you are forcing yourself to not reach out to others, but I want to know more about you. I can help you collecting information about the photos to help you clear the game faster." Karma was surprised at himself while hearing those words coming out of his own mouth. It seemed that with this girl, he didn't have to hold back at all about asking whatever that came first to his mind. He didn't have to use roundabout ways to ask what he wanted. He knew that no matter he asked or said, she would not judge him behind his back but said it directly to his face. Her honesty was contagious, and he couldn't help but to face her equally with the same attitude.

Reaching out his hand towards her, Karma concluded his request: "So what do you say Manami, will you be my friend?"

Manami, at that time, was having a mental battle within her mind. While her heart was urging her to accept his offer, her mind warned her to not get too deeply involved with anyone because she would only get hurt in the end, just like what happened before.

"I-I-I…"

Seeing as Manami was greatly debating with herself, Karma decided to make it easier for her by suggesting:

"Look, the sun is setting. We should go home now. You still have one more photo to take in the mountains right? We'll meet up here tomorrow afterschool and you can give me your answer then."

"O-okay." muttered the chemistry-lover.

The pair proceeded to exit the forest and head back home. The remaining trip was spent mostly in a comfortable silence. Karma wanted to let her think clearly about his offer, and Manami was brooding about what was the best choice for her to take. As they headed down the mountain trail and reached the main road, Karma took hold of Manami's hand:

"Where is your house? I'll accompany you back."

"T-that's alright. You don't need to bother. My place is not that far." replied Manami.

"My parents would kill me if I let a girl walking back home alone at night." said Karma in a final tone, indicating that he would not budge out on this matter.

"Fine, but can you let go of my hand? I'm not a little kid." retorted Manami in a somewhat defiant voice.

"Oh really? Is the girl who got lost and stumbled many times in the mountain today not called Manami?" teased Karma.

She completely forgot about those times when she was caught off guard of where she was going because Karma just kept surprising her with his pop quiz questions. She could feel his mischievousness coming back full swing at that moment, and she felt that it would be futile to argue further when he got into this mode.

"..J-just until we got to the station then."

"As you wish, Manami-chan." replied Karma while giving her hand a squeeze. Despite his cold attitude towards others most of the time, the class trickster's hands were unexpectedly warm.

Once they reached the station, Karma let go of her hand, keeping his promise this time. Despite her protests, the young lad insisted to wait with her at the platform until her train arrived. When Manami got into the train, she could still Karma staying there and looking at the going train until it was out of his sight.

Manami wondered what was there about her that made Akabane-kun so interested in till the point that he wanted to be her friend. She considered herself pretty plain in appearance. She didn't have the charm or the charisma to interact with people. She felt awkward around them, as she was usually seen as too honest or too blunt with her feelings. Aside from her intelligence in math and sciences, she was pretty much bad at everything else.

As she reached home and went into her room, Manami thought about the day's events. Many things happened in just one day, with herself falling on top of Akabane-kun, his involvement in the game, and then his confession of wanting to be friends with her. She didn't want to hurt other people or getting hurt herself. With many mixed feelings and thinking, Manami went into dreamland somewhat with difficulty that night.

She was so absorbed in her musings that Manami almost slept in the next morning, just realizing that she had P.E class with Karasuma-sensei for the first period. Quickly packing her gym clothes into her schoolbag, the chemistry-lover hurriedly took a toast in her kitchen and sprinted to school.

The sprint has left her so exhausted when she reached their school building that Manami hoped with all her heart that Karasuma-sensei won't make them run too much that morning. Unfortunately for her, their spartan P.E teacher was even stricter than usual that day and ordered the whole class to marathon 8 km around the school's vicinity. Even when she wanted nothing more than to go the infirmary and sleep instead, Manami was reminded that there were a lot of Shinto shrines along the way of the marathon trail decided by their teacher. She may very well find the one with the giant _daruma_ as in senpai's photos if she went on this marathon.

With renewed determination, the raven-haired girl set out to stretch her limbs to prepare for the long run, while waiting for the signal to get started. It was only 10 min after the start that she already felt both her ankles throbbing. Manami painfully realized that she had put on the wrong shoes that morning during her hurry to school. She wouldn't be surprised if there would be extremely bad blisters on her ankle at the end of the marathon. It didn't help that her fatigue from not getting much sleep the night before because of her extreme musings came back at full force. She was trying her best to keep herself going while searching for the object of her photo each time a Shinto shrine came into her sight.

"-ami. Manami!" shouted a masculine voice from her left. The said girl was snapped out of her thoughts as she became aware of the red head guy running next to her who was calling out her name.

"A-Akabane-kun? W-w-what are you doing here? I thought…the boys started… earlier." breathed out Manami between pants.

"I already finished the first 6 km. I'm currently first." coolly said Karma despite the sweat running down his face, not bothering at the awed looks of the other girls around them.

"What…?! Incredible!" uttered the young girl in surprise.

"Are you okay? You're still looking at your phone while running?"

"I-I c-couldn't…sleep much yesterday. I'm s-searching for the giant _daruma_ near… the Shinto s-shrine."

"Show me how it looks like. And rest for a bit." replied Karma while reaching out to grab her phone, halting his run and making the bespectacled girl do the same.

As he was looking at the photo on the phone, the scarlet-haired boy noticed an old lady with a heavy bag trying to get on the steps towards a shrine near them.

"Sorry Manami, can you wait for a sec?" asked Karma while already heading towards the old lady. Manami hesitantly followed closely behind as she realized what he was doing.

"Obaa-san*, please get on my back. I will take you to the top." offered Karma

"I-it's the middle of the marathon, you know? Karasuma-sensei would be mad at you for skipping." reminded Manami.

"I'm not skipping. I'll return later." coolly reasoned the red head lad, already carrying the old lady up the steps.

Manami barely registered Horibe-kun, with Terasaka-kun following closely behind passing by her. The latter was excitedly shouting that he surpassed Karma and was first in line, with the former correcting him in a monotone voice: "You're still behind me, Terabaka."

 _Even though he was in first place…I thought that Akabane-kun only wanted to show his good sides by getting ahead of others, but that's not it at all._

Slightly smiling, Manami quickly followed Karma and the old lady, offering the latter to carry her bag for her.

"Sorry, - started the old lady- you were in the middle of something, right?"

"It's not a big deal. "Be kind towards females" is a rule in my house." replied Karma nonchalantly.

"Female! Hahaha! I'm already an old lady!" chuckled obaa-san.

"You _are_ a woman!" corrected Manami.

"Such good kids." said the old woman between small laughs, smiling fondly at the young pair in front of her. She then addressed Karma to make sure that she wasn't too heavy for him to carry.

"Not at all. I'm fine." coolly replied Karma despite the long trails of sweats running down his face.

"He's still sweating though, - thought Manami while looking at the class's trickster with a small smile, since he already ran approximately 6 km. He's supposed to be tired though. Guys are incredible."

They continued the walk in a comfortable silence. Manami tried her best to follow Karma while ignoring the accumulating fatigue that was building up inside of her since the start of that morning.

As they reached the last step of the stairs, the lady indicated that her house was just right around the corner and thanked the two young students. Manami insisted to take the lady's bag over to her house, with Karma waiting outside.

When they got into her house, the old lady dropped a surprise bomb by asking Manami if the two of them were in a relationship.

"N-no! We're not!" corrected Manami quickly, with cheeks tinted a deep sakura-color.

"Oh, I see. There are not many kind and gentle people like that you know. –chuckled the old lady good-naturedly.- Make sure to hold onto him. A guy that will be by your side and protect you is the best."

At those words, two pairs of amethyst and golden eyes flashed into her mind. She was snapped back into reality when the old lady thanked her once again and bid her goodbye.

Turning her head around, she realized that Karma was nowhere to be seen at the spot that she last saw him before entering the lady's house. An uncomfortable feeling quickly invaded her, and before she knew it, her legs were already running on their own. She frantically looked around her, trying to spot her classmate's distinct red hair.

 _W-where did he go?_

 _Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump._ At that moment, Manami was painfully aware of her loud heartbeats, as well as that dreadful feeling that was eating away at her.

 _This kind of feeling…I've felt it before._

 _Will you disappear again? Are you…going to leave me behind again?_

"Over here." came a familiar, deep masculine voice that snapped Manami out of her thoughts.

Turning her head towards the source of the voice, the raven-haired girl recognized her classmate's scarlet hair that seemed to burn under the sunlight. He was leaning on a railing delimiting a small piece of heightened land.

Relief washed over her instantly the moment she recognized her mischievous classmate. As if finally unburdened of everything, her brain chose to shut down at that exact instant. She barely registered her body stumbled forward and descending down on the pavement on its own. However, as her eyes were fluttering close, instead of red, a flashing orange was the last thing that she saw.

Instantly alarmed, Karma was quick to jump over the railing and catch the falling Manami. The girl was muttering something even while being unconscious. The young man would have missed it if not for his enhanced hearing:

"D-don't leave. Asano-senpai."

* * *

Songs: _Hoshi to Tsuki no Sentence (Sentence of the Star and Moon)_ by KitaKore and _Glitter (Starving Trancer Remix)_ by Another Infinity

*obaa-san: Japanese suffix for aunty, a polite way to address an elder woman

Voilà, I hope that no one got too disappointed/surprised/mad/frustrated about the fact that Asano is the senpai that Manami has a crush on. As this is a semi-AU fic, I gave myself the liberty to change character's age and status as I have mentioned in the very first chapter. I didn't want to use an OC in this story, and I think that of all the canon characters in AssClass, Asano is the best choice for this role.

I also have to confess that I won't be able to update this story for the upcoming months at least until May, as this year is my final year at university before graduating. However, please rest assured that I won't abandon this story and I hope that you will be patient with the updates.

Please R&R!


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